Current Usage of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Management of Breast Cancer: A Practitioner's Perspective

Effects of Chinese Herbal Formula on Immune Function and Nutritional Status of Breast Cancer Patients

Background. Chinese herbal formulas have certain effects on patients with breast cancer (BC). This article discussed the effect of Buqi Yangxue decoction on the immune function and nutritional status of BC patients and provided an evidence for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to improve the quality of life and curative effect of BC patients. Methods. 66 cases of BC patients were divided into control group (n =33) and Chinese herbal formula group (n =33). The control group was received with TE chemotherapy, and the Chinese herbal formula group was received with Buqi Yangxue decoction combined with TE chemotherapy. Nutritional status, immune function, TCM symptom quantitative score, and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results. There was no difference in all indexes between the two groups before intervention. After 4 weeks, the nutritional indexes ALB, PA, TRF, and TP in Chinese herbal formula group were higher than those in control group, except HGb. CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ in both groups were sharply higher than before treatment, while CD8+ was dramatically lower, and the changes in Chinese herbal formula group were more obvious than those in control group. In Chinese herbal formula group, the levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM were sharply increased compared with control group. The TCM syndrome scores in both groups were decreased significantly after treatment, especially in Chinese herbal formula group. In addition, nausea and vomiting, inappetence, liver function impairment, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia occurred in both groups. There was no clear difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between Chinese herbal formula group and control group. Conclusion. Buqi Yangxue decoction can effectively improve the nutritional status and immune function of BC patients, which has important clinical significance for the later comprehensive treatment.

A Perspective on Tongue Diagnosis in Patients with Breast Cancer

Introduction

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women and patients with BC often undergo complex treatment. In Taiwan, nearly 80% of patients with BC seek traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) during adjuvant chemotherapy to relieve discomfort and side effects. This study investigated tongue features and pattern differentiation through noninvasive TCM tongue diagnosis in patients with BC.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional, case-controlled, retrospective observational study collected patient data through a chart review. The tongue features were extracted using the automatic tongue diagnosis system (ATDS). Nine tongue features, including tongue shape, tongue color, fur thickness, fur color, saliva, tongue fissures, ecchymoses, teeth marks, and red dots, were analyzed. Results and Discussion. Objective image analysis techniques were used to identify significant differences in the many tongue features between BC patients and non-BC individuals. A significantly larger proportion of patients with BC had a small tongue (p < 0.001), pale tongue (p < 0.001), thick fur (p < 0.001), yellow fur (p < 0.001), wet saliva (p < 0.001), thick tongue fur (p < 0.001), fissures (p=0.040), and ecchymoses in the heart-lung area (p=0.013). According to logistic regression, small tongue shape, pale tongue color, yellow fur color, wet saliva, and the amounts of fissures were associated with a significantly increased odds ratio for BC.

Conclusions

This study showed significant differences in tongue features, such as small tongue shape, pale tongue color, thick fur, yellow fur color, wet saliva, fissure, and ecchymoses in the heart-lung area in patients with BC. These tongue features would imply yin deficiency, deficiencies of blood, stagnation of heat, and phlegm/blood stasis in TCM theory. There is a need to investigate effective and safe treatment to enhance the role of TCM in integrated medical care for patients with BC.

Huaier Extract Induces Apoptosis in Hepatoblastoma Cells Via the MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway

BACKGROUND/AIM

Huaier extract, whose main active constituent is the proteoglycan, has anti-tumor activity in several types of malignancies. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effect of Huaier extract in hepatoblastoma cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The effect of Huaier extract on the proliferation of human hepatoblastoma cell lines HepG2 and HuH-6, was examined.

RESULTS

Incubation with Huaier extract resulted in a marked, dose-dependent decrease in hepatoblastoma cell viability. Huaier extract induced S phase arrest in hepatoblastoma cells and upregulated the expression of the cell cycle related proteins cyclin D1 and cyclin D3. It also induced apoptosis in hepatoblastoma cells. Additionally, it significantly suppressed the activity of p-ERK and p-MEK.

CONCLUSION

Huaier extract inhibits proliferation, and induces cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest via the MEK-ERK pathway in hepatoblastoma cells. Huaier extract may act as a complementary agent for treating hepatoblastoma.

Effectiveness of Combined Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine on the Prognosis of Patients with Breast Cancer

Objective: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be used to balance the body's immunity and tumor development during different stages of cancer treatment. Recently, TCM has been an important part of the health care system for breast cancer in Taiwan. This study was conducted as a prospective observation of the prognosis of Western medicine and combined treatment of TCM and Western medicine. Methods: Between April 2014 and March 2015, eligible participants were treated with Western medicine (n = 16) or TCM plus Western medicine (n = 29). The TCM treatment for patients followed the principles of a breast cancer protocol that had been developed in the Integrative Cancer Center. The outcome measures included quality of life, frequency of symptom distress, and clinical safety, and were measured with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G), the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) Scale, and laboratory examinations, respectively. Data on these measures were collected at baseline and at 3 months after treatment initiation. Survival was estimated by Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: The two treatment groups did not differ significantly at baseline in terms of demographic information, FACT-G score, or frequency of symptom distress, except for fatigue, sleep disturbance, and mucositis. Most laboratory examinations did not differ significantly between the two groups, but higher red blood cell counts and lower liver function were found with the combined treatment than with Western medicine alone (p < 0.05). The mean overall survival rates were 25.5 months for the combined group and 22.7 months for the Western medicine group (p = 0.037). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that combining Western and TCM therapy may have a favorable effect on the prognosis of breast cancer patients. Chinese herbal medicine is worth studying in a future larger cohort with a control group. It also warrants verification as a preventive intervention.

Traditional Chinese biomedical preparation (Huaier Granule) for breast cancer: a PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis

Huaier Granule, a type of traditional Chinese biomedical preparation (TCBP), is considered to be a promising adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. Although an analysis of the published literature has been performed, the exact effects and safety of Huaier Granule remains controversial. Therefore, a wide-ranging systematic search of electronic databases from which to draw conclusions was performed. Data from 27 trials, including 2562 patients with breast cancer were analyzed. The results indicated that, compared with conventional treatment alone, the combination of conventional treatment and Huaier Granule markedly improved patients’ overall response (P=0.02) and quality of life (P<0.00001), and significantly prolonged 2-year (P=0.02), 3-year (P<0.0001) and 5-year (P=0.004) overall survival rates, and 1-year (P=0.003), 2-year (P<0.00001), 3-year (P<0.00001) and 5-year (P=0.03) disease-free survival. The immune function of patients was also significantly enhanced after combined intervention treatment, indicated by clearly increased percentages of CD3⁺ (P=0.05), CD4⁺ (P<0.00001) and natural killer cells (P<0.0001), and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio (P<0.00001). The incidence of myelosuppression (P=0.001) and hepatotoxicity (P=0.05) was lower in breast cancer patients treated with Huaier Granule, whereas other adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups (P>0.05). In summary, results of this meta-analysis suggest that the combination of conventional treatment and Huaier Granule is more effective for the treatment of breast cancer than conventional treatment alone.

Spica Prunellae extract suppresses the growth of human colon carcinoma cells by targeting multiple oncogenes via activating miR-34a

Spica Prunellae is the spike of the herb Prunella vulgaris L. in traditional Chinese medicine which is often used for the treatment of various cancers including colorectal cancer. In the present study, we found that a key tumor suppressor, microRNA-34a (miR-34a) is involved in the antitumor activity for Spica Prunellae. Human colon carcinoma HCT-8 cells treated with an ethanol extract of Spica Prunellae (EESP) had significantly decreased cell proliferation and viability, in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis with Annexin V/PI staining analysis revealed that EESP treatment could induce apoptosis of HCT-8 cells. The level of miR-34a was upregulated in HCT-8 cells following EESP treatment, whereas expression levels of its target genes Notch1, Notch2 and Bcl-2 were downregulated. Inhibition of miR-34a rescued the expression of these target genes. These results revealed that Spica Prunellae can suppress the growth of HCT-8 cells by targeting Notch1, Notch2 and Bcl-2 via activation of miR-34a.